I. D. Luther's Argument and Summaries on the 5th, 6th and 7th Chapters of Matthew.
2. from St. Lucä and Johanne, as they described the Passion.
St. John and Paul were especially sure of their teaching.
4. from St. Jacob's epistle.
5. D. Luther's Judgment of Books in the Old Testament.
6. from the preacher Salomonis.
7. why the history of the archfathers is described so briefly.
8. a clever man's thoughtlessly sacrilegious judgment of the books of the holy bible.
9. from St. John's Gospel.
Divine truth is powerful.
11. what books to preach in the church.
12. from St. John's Gospel.
13. from the prophet Daniel.
1. argument and summaries of D. M. Luther on the 5th, 6th and 7th chapter of Matthäi.
(Cordatus No. 1434.)
The fifth chapter of Matthew first teaches how each person should live for himself in eight beatitudes. 2) The Magisterium, for the salt of the
Law, to the light the gospel, and both in faith. 3) The false interpretation of the law is refuted. 4) Hypocrisy in life is condemned. 5) Is taught right good works. 6) Warns against false teaching. 7) Resolves doubts. 8) Condemns hypocrites in words.
2. from St. Lucä and Johanne, as they described the Passion.
(Cordatus No. 1347.)
Lucas has carefully described the story of the suffering of Christ before all. John, however, writes the main action, the audience [the interrogation before Pilate]. Concordant accounts [concordantiae] are too tiring; John has resorted to brevity in this history.
St. John and Paul were especially sure of their teaching.
In St. Paul and John there was a peculiar, excellent certainty and plerophoria: they speak of it as if it were already ready before their eyes. Therefore Christ does not say in vain Apost. 9, 15: "He (St. Paul) shall be a chosen instrument unto me." He made him a doctor, that is why he speaks so confidently of the matter. Whoever runs Paul may rely on his words with a clear conscience. I have never read a more serious scripture in my life.
John in his Gospel describes Christ, that he is real, true, natural God, a priori, from before: "In the beginning was the Word" etc. Item: "He who praises and honors me also honors the Father." But Paul a posteriori et effectu, from that which follows, and from the work, as he says 1 Cor. 10, 9: "They tempted Christ in the wilderness" etc.; therefore Christ is right, true God; and Acts. 20, 28: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves" etc.
Many try very hard to bring Jacob into agreement with Paul, as also Philip in the Apology, but not seriously; they argue against each other: faith justifies, faith does not justify. Whoever can rhyme these together, I will put on my beret and let him call me a fool.
5. judgment of D. M. Luther's judgment of books in the Old Testament.
(Cordatus No. 1007 and No. 1782.)
Jesus Sirach is only a teacher of the law, not a prophet, and knows nothing of Christ and his gospel, which deals with the first and second commandments and is above the third [which it does not care about because this was given only for a certain time, and even now serves the word.
God established the most beautiful world and church order in the fifth book of Moses, but the world always likes what is theirs better than what is God's.
6. from the preacher Salomonis.
(The first three paragraphs, Cordatus No. 1583. 989,990.)
About Ecclesiastes 1) he said when it was published: The book should be more complete, it has too much broken off. It has neither boots nor spurs, it rides only on sticks, like me, when I was a monk in the monastery.
I do not believe that Solomon is condemned, but what is written about him is written for the kings to fear.
I believe that the book of Jesus Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] was written at the time of the Maccabees. It is a very good book, household rules, speeches and a mixture of many books, perhaps from the library of Ptolemy Euergetes, just as the proverbs are collected from others, but from the mouth of the king, because royal majesty shines from them.
The book of the Proverbs of Solomon is a beautiful book: the rulers should read it, for therein one sees how things are in the world: there is nothing but the fear of God and prayer, in which rulers should practice. So they go about with the mathematics, and reckon: this bears so much to me, that so much; and they would take our Lord God captive; and he saith, O dear, take me not captive. No, no, they say. Now, for more than three years, he has left you behind.
1) Perhaps here, too, there is a confusion of I^eelesiastss and Ecclesiasticus (Jesus Sirach), as in No. 130 of the Cordatus. See Appendix No. II.
see. It is nothing; Benedictio Domini divites facit: the blessing of the Lord makes rich. So it is with mines, so it is with Benedictio Domini: they want to take our Lord God and his grace captive, and want to seize it; and yet he does not want to be seized nor captured. For all the Scriptures are full of it: Lro8io in äomo Impü: "In the house of the wicked is the curse," Proverbs 3:33. Let it be as little as we will, so let us call upon our Lord God and pray, if he will but give us a piece of bread, and give us a sound body in addition. But if we sin, and he chastise us for it at times, let us close our eyes to him. He shall not see it; we will do it ourselves. So we do it, and experience it with our great harm. So it is with princes and lords. For they cannot say, as David did, Qui das salutem Regibus, et qui subdis populum meum sub me: "Thou givest salvation to the king, and castest my people under me," Ps. 18:48, 51.
(The following four paragraphs, Cordatus No. 1293. 1342. . No. 1298. 1299.)
The third book of Ezra I throw into the Elbe, the fourth has dreams (But the first two books of Ezra are beautiful.) 1) And have [the third and fourth good pebbles, like that of those who dispute before the king. [3 Ezra, Cap. 3. and 4.]
The first chapter of the first book of Moses contains all of Scripture. Therefore, the ancients warned very well that no one should read it before his thirtieth year. For it has secrets which cannot be observed by inexperienced readers, and no man has ever been able to explain it as it should be explained, let alone understand it.
From the whole story in Scripture, I cannot perceive that the Book of Judith is a sacred story; there is no care for
1) The brackets are set by us. The enclosed is to be considered as a remark thrown in the middle of the sentence. In the Vulgate, the book of Ezra is called the first book of Ezra, Nehemiah the second book of Ezra. The third and fourth books of Ezra are apocrypha, which in the Vulgate are placed at the very end of the Scriptures.
the description of the country, but this book is written, like the legends of the saints, to show that God, who was worshipped in Judea, defeats all tyrants of the world and even the devil himself, and that the tyrants come to such a miserable end, like Holofernes, and it [the book of Judith has, as the occasion required, included the woman Judith, to describe it in her. In the same way, Homer used Troy, and Virgil Aeneas, to describe in him prudence, heroism, happiness, accident 2c).
The book of Judith is a tragedy in which the end and downfall of tyrants is described; Tobias, however, is a comedy that speaks of women. In that book is an example of the world regime, in this one an example of the household. Baruch is a hermit who has forgotten the register. He does not pay attention to the time, and the passage [Bar. 3, 38]: "He appeared on earth" is not about Christ, but about the bush of Moses.
(The following two paragraphs in Cordatus No. 1764 and No. 1281.)
I am hostile to the book of Esther and the second book of the Maccabees, because they are too Judaizing and have a pagan character. However, it is frightening that the book of Esther is held in higher esteem by the Jews than Isaiah or Daniel, since Isaiah proclaims Christ in the purest way, and Daniel clearly describes the world kingdoms and the kingdom of Christ.
Tobias is a Jewish poem, and not particularly appropriate, because the devil is not driven out with a fish liver, because he leads against us the right Goliath spear. For God has armed him and is still sharpening his weapons, giving him steel for his shaft, the law, 2) but he still arms him with the precaution that he [the devil], finally defeated by the faithful, must be the more ashamed and become a disgrace.
(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 393.)
Daniel and Isaiah have been the most excellent prophets. I am Isaiah, Phi-
2) legern arrnat, tarnen aäeo sollielte ete. Here the comma will probably be placed after legern and deleted after arrnat, so that legern becomes apposition to "steel".
lippus Jeremiah. The same prophet has always feared and worried, he scolded too much. So does Philip. 1)
(The following two paragraphs Cordatus No. 878 and No. 871.)
The whole sermons were not written by any prophet, but at one time they wrote a saying, and after that another saying, and so they compiled them, and so the Bible was preserved.
The books of the kings are only a Jewish calendar, in which the kings are listed in order, and how one or the other has ruled.
The books of the kings go a hundred thousand steps ahead of the one who described the Chronicles, for he only indicated the summa and noblest pieces and history, what is bad and minor, he passed over; therefore the books of the kings are to be believed more than the Chronicles.
The Book of Judges describes the great heroes and saviors sent by God, who, after the first commandment, trusting and believing in God, of whom Moses preached, began and accomplished all their deeds, and thanking God for them, brought them home to God in heaven, saying, "O Lord God, you have done it; to you alone be glory, praise and thanks;" as Ehud, Samson, etc.
The book of Job is a very good book, written not only by him and through him, but also for the comfort of all afflicted, challenged, suffering and sorrowful hearts. When the devil and men attacked him severely and opposed him, he endured it with patience, saying, "May the name of the Lord be blessed," Job 1:21. But when God began to be angry with him, he became impatient and resentful. It grieved him and hurt him that the wicked were so well off. Therefore this should be a comfort to the poor Christians who are persecuted and have to suffer, namely, that God wants to give them such great, glorious and eternal goods in that life, and here also gives a measure of the suffering, how far and long it will be.
1) Almost verbatim in Kummer p. 326 d. (Lauterbach p. 81.)
the chasers should grab, not as they would like.
Job did not speak thus as it is written in his book, but thought it; for it is not thus spoken in the challenge and temptation: yet it was thus done in the deed and in the work. And it is almost like an Argumentum Fabulä: how one acts and holds a play, in which several persons are introduced, where one talks and disputes with and after the other, as he feels about his heart and as he means it, therefore also the master has taken and described it; like Terentius his comedies; so that he wanted to show an example of patience.
It is possible and probable that Solomon made and wrote this book; for it is almost his way of speaking in the same book of Job as in other of his books.
Phrasis non multum est dissimilis. In addition, such a historia of Job is old and very mean, and was well known to everyone in Solomon's time, which he undertook to describe, as if I were to presume to describe the history of Joseph or Rebekah.
The poet and master of this book, be he who he may, has had such trials and tribulations, seen them, experienced them, and thus described them. Just as Virgilius describes the great hero Aeneam, and leads him through all waters, seas and inns, makes a fine, political man of the world and war out of him: And it seems and can be seen that a great, excellent theologian must have been who made this book and wrote it, he may have been whoever he wanted.
7. why the histories of the archfathers are described so briefly.
Philip had a long conversation with I> Martino: If Moses had described the legends of the dear holy patriarchs and archfathers so briefly, it would have been only a rhapsodia, gathered thing, recorded on the very shortest, like a cabbala. Then spoke D. M. Luther said: "Just as the Jews call a Cabbalam, in which something is briefly described, so Moses also did not describe it.
The length of the histories of the patriarchs who lived for such a long time can be written. For only think what experience and knowledge have been in those who have lived some six hundred years, more or less, and have still been as wealthy and strong in body and mind as ours when he is thirty years old.
Then he said, "Do not take it from Moses, for the evangelists have described the sermons in the New Testament in the shortest possible way: how briefly they run through, even touch, only the sermons of John the Baptist, who undoubtedly preached the most beautiful sermons; only this saying is shown, since St. John says, "Behold, the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world" John 1:29. John says: "Behold, this is the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world" Joh. 1, 29. I consider John the Baptist to be the greatest preacher after St. Paul, because even St. Peter in his epistle puts Paul himself far ahead of him, 2 Petr. 3, 15.
8. a clever man's thoughtlessly sacrilegious judgment of the books of the holy bible.
(Cordatus No?1647.)
It is in the nature of reason that nothing pleases one so much as what is related to his spirit. For example, there was a man who made a great judgment of the Scriptures, saying that Jesus Sirach was so great that the words of the Gospel were of little value compared to his teachings. But although this book is a good one as far as jurisprudence, understanding of the law and housekeeping are concerned, and therefore pleases the world, what is it in comparison with the gospel and the writings of the apostles? For what is life against the word of life?
9. from St. John's Gospel.
(This § is transferred to Cap. 69, § 1, where it belongs).
10. truth is powerful.
(Contained in Cap. 73, 85.)
11. what books to preach in church.
(Cordatus No. 1044. 1045.)
The Psalter, the Gospel of John, Paul are to be preached and remain in the church for those who have to contend, but Matthew for the people.
David has given to light [edidit] teaching psalms, prophetic, prayer and thanksgiving psalms, the children of Korah vain comfort psalms. Among the prophetic ones the most excellent are: [Ps. 110. The Lord said to my Lord, Ps. 51. God, be gracious to me according to your goodness, Ps. 32. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, Ps. 130. From the depths I cry out to you, O Lord, Ps. 143. Lord, hear my prayer: for these teach that the forgiveness of sins takes place without the law. Therefore these psalms are purely Pauline. For what is this but [Ps. 130:4], "For with thee is forgiveness, that thou shouldest be feared?" and what Paul says [Rom. 11:32], "He hath concluded all under sin, that he might have mercy on all." "That they may fear thee," that all may take off their little hats before thee, that none may boast in his righteousness, and that forgiveness of sins may be reconciliation, not merit.
12. from St. John's Gospel.
(Cordatus No. 132.)
John speaks such simple words in his epistle and gospel that simpler ones will never come into the world. And yet, under this simplicity of his, he speaks everything that another would [put forward] with the greatest harshness and severity. For example, these two words may serve, "He that hath not the Son hath not the Father," and the other two, "The law was given by Moses, the truth was made by JEsum Christ." 1)
13. from the prophet Daniel.
(Contained in Cap. 27, § 2.)
1) Although the last two citations contain words of John the Baptist, John is probably to be understood as "the evangelist", because the epistles are also mentioned.